Amid The Chaos Of Our Minds
by TWDlover92
Summary: The story takes place right after the S6 mid-season finale. The group is dealing with the outcome of the herd back at Alexandria while Daryl, Sasha and Abe are still on the road. A lot of Caryl and Richonne scenes along the way.
1. Losing ourselves in the chaos

_**Losing ourselves in the chaos**_

The hard cold cement floor under Carol's back and the terrible pain running through her entire body were great indicators that something went wrong during her altercation with Morgan. She didn't know how much time had passed since she was last still conscious but she felt as if she missed most of the action occurring in this tiny room. Quietly and very slowly, she tried to get back up on her feet but her body aching in pain said otherwise. She hissed as she at least attempted to sit down and look around the room. Morgan was lying beside her and she immediately got startled. _What the heck is happening?_ But before she could even process that thought, she realized that both the Wolf and Denise were gone. Somehow, after she got knocked out, the Wolf took advantage of the situation and sent Morgan for a little sleep in order to escape this place. The reality was that he was always going to run away. It was his plan all along no matter how things turned out in here. This crazy guy could not be fixed no matter how much Morgan insisted that he could change and acknowledge what he had done to all those innocent people. This whole hostage thing was always a dumb thing to do and now, they all had to pay for it.

Tara, Rosita and Eugene made their way in the small room as they heard Carol gaining back consciousness. Rosita and Tara instantly helped Carol get up while Eugene kept looking through the door to make sure the herd was not reaching this place.

"Are you okay?" asked a concerned Tara.

"I'm…fine. Nothing to be worried about." Carol answered, still wincing at the pain.

"Are you sure? You really don't look that well." Rosita noticed.

"Give it a minute or two. I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks." Carol insisted, faking a faint smile.

Tara looked at Rosita with doubt in her eyes but knew there was nothing else they could do about it anyway. Denise was gone and she was the one with the right knowledge to help Carol heal correctly. Rosita looked down at Morgan still passed out on the floor and suddenly felt anger about this whole situation.

"Why were you both fighting in the middle of the herd attack? It was not the time for any of that! It should have waited!"

Carol was too tired to deal with this but she knew Rosita was justified in feeling angry at that moment. It's true that the timing was wrong but she felt like she had to do something about this whole Wolf hostage. Morgan should have just let her kill him so it would be done and over with.

"I tried to kill the Wolf before he would cause any more damage to this community. Morgan was keeping him locked in here while he should have died a long time ago. "Carol answered, looking at the empty mattress where the Wolf used to be.

"And why would he bother doing that? The Wolf was a bad guy! His people killed a lot of Alexandrians in the most barbaric ways! "Rosita added, completely puzzled.

"He thought it was the right thing to do because he believes that all life is precious. He believes that the Wolf could have changed somewhere down the line. But he was wrong. The Wolf took the opportunity to run away as soon as he could and he even brought Denise with him to cause more chaos around here. And he is going to keep on killing wherever he goes next."

"Well, that's stupid." Tara answered in all honesty. "But I guess I can understand where he is coming from deep down."

"So what now? What do we do?" Rosita asked, looking around the room impatiently.

"The herd is still moving at an impressive pace all around the streets although it's been approximately one hour and twelve minutes since they first arrived. It seems like they might be there for a long while. We could read a book or play a game in the meantime." Eugene proposed, still looking through the door.

"What? No way! We have to get out of here! Maybe some people need us right now! "Rosita said, pulling out her knife.

"We'll go, don't worry. We just have to figure a way out." Tara responded.

Carol looked at the whole scene unfolding before her and felt her head throbbing in pain. She knew she was really not feeling that well after all but maybe she could still go out there with them and try something?

"I'll go with all of you." Carol finally said, trying to reach her knife on the floor.

"No freakin' way. You stay here with Morgan. I may not be a genius in medicine but I know when it's better for someone to stay behind!" Tara answered, sitting Carol gently on the mattress. "You get some rest and you wait it out with Morgan until we come back and get you out of here."

Tara could sense that Carol was not happy with this decision but she couldn't care less. Denise was already gone, maybe dead for all she knew, and there was no way she would risk Carol's life out there when it was clear she was still in major pain. She was too valuable for this community to die in a foolish way and she didn't want to feel guilty for the rest of her life. Carol wanted to argue her point but she was just too tired to even try. Her eyes were slowly shutting down and the last thing she saw was Rosita opening the door with Eugene and Tara following her outside.

* * *

Daryl felt lucky that he had found this big ol' truck just in time to pick up Abraham and Sasha. If it wasn't for this discovery, he would still be out there in the woods cursing between his lips after this dude who took all his stuff without even blinking. He had a hard time to believe that this was the outcome of his brief encounter with those people. It definitely was not what he was hoping for. Hell, he was even ready to bring them back home with him. He felt like they were genuinely nice people he could count on. _Well, it seems like Aaron was wrong about me after all._ But it didn't matter anymore. They were gone on his bike and the probability of ever meeting them again was pretty small. He made a mistake and he won't do it again.

Now, they had to go back to Alexandria and help their people. The herd was already there and who knows how many people were dead by now. The simple thought of seeing dead Alexandrian bodies all over the place made Daryl even more desperate to go back. But most of all, he wanted to make sure Carol was safe. Since the very beginning of his mission, he was thinking about her safety all along. He was out there distracting the herd mostly to make sure she was safe back at home. And when he heard that a part of the herd had gone directly to Alexandria, he started panicking immediately. He knew he had to go back as soon as possible.

The mission was not his priority anymore because there was no point in pursuing it if Carol was in imminent danger back home. That's why he had left Abraham and Sasha earlier that day. He needed to be there for her even if she could handle the situation herself. But at some point during his travel, he realized that the only way he could really help her out at the moment was by keeping the rest of the herd far away from the community. He had to complete his mission before doing anything else. It had to be done to prevent more damage down the line. Of course, things didn't go as planned along the way but they managed to come through all of it in one piece.

There was a point where he was about to give up, though. It was back there in the woods, after some crazy assholes tried to kill them on the road. He had lost sight of both Abraham and Sasha, making it even more difficult to really grasp what was happening. He ended up crashing in the middle of a burned forest, his bike lying down beside him. Everything was ashes around him and he thought ironically of this one thing he once told Carol to cheer her up back in Atlanta. _We ain't ashes._ He was panting hard, trying to catch his breath after all he had been through in the last few minutes. He heard walkers slowly coming towards him and he felt like he was done.

He had no more energy for anything else right then. But somehow, he found the strength to shoot the first walker right in the head and he caught a glimpse of something he thought he might never see again: a Cherokee rose. It was growing on the back of that atrocious walker. Instantly, his mind went to Carol and he knew she was fine. He just felt it deep in him. It might have been stupid to put his hope on a random flower but it was part of their history and he wanted to believe it meant something important. And that's all he really needed to carry on despite the exhaustion and the pain. He had to find a way to go back no matter what.

"Deep in thoughts, Dixon?" Abraham chuckled as he watched Daryl staring blankly at the road while driving.

"Hmm, tired, that's all. Been a long day." Daryl answered, his voice showing just how much he needed a break.

"Gotcha. This day has been a long pain in the ass for all of us. Hopefully, they have already managed the herd back home." Abraham responded.

"I wouldn't count on it." Sasha added, being realistic as usual. "They are probably right in the middle of it right now. And when we'll arrive, we'll have to do something about it too if we want to secure the place again. "

"Damn it! And I hoped I could catch a great night of sleep after all this crap…"

"You know very well we will never catch a great night of sleep ever again. Not in this world we now live in."

"I guess you are right, sweetheart. And what was that mess all about with those bastards shooting us randomly on the road?"

"No idea. They probably thought we were another group of people that messed with them? I guess we will never really know." Sasha shrugged.

"Yeah…oh well. At least it's all over now. We're back in at least twenty minutes or so. "

As they drove back home in silence, Daryl saw something catching his eye down the road. Something he definitely did not expect right at that moment: bikers waiting patiently for their truck to stop.

"Holy shit! What is happening? "Abraham asked, clearly confused.

"Guess we're about to figure it out…" Daryl simply answered, slowing down.

The truck stopped in front of the bikers and they suddenly heard the leader of that group telling them to get out of it. As they did so, the leader went on about how their stuff was no longer belonging to them and they had to give everything up in order to survive.

"So who do they belong to now?" Sasha asked, not hiding how pissed off she was.

"It is now the property of Negan." the man simply answered.

* * *

Carol woke up again in that basement feeling a little bit better this time. She was still in pain but it was much less intense than after her first wake up. She had to admit that Tara made the right choice by leaving her here to fight another day. She was not in any shape to participate in anything right now. As she tried to move, she felt something wrapped around her hands and feet. She was tied up with wires. _You've got to be kidding me!_ And as she sensed what was happening at that moment, she turned her head to see Morgan staring at her with the wooden stick in his hands.

"What the hell are you doing, Morgan?" Carol asked, perplexed.

"I'm protecting myself from you. You tried to kill me earlier." Morgan calmly responded.

"Yeah, because you wouldn't let me finish what had to be done! You left me no choice!" Carol continued, clearly frustrated with him. "Look, I woke up for the first time way before you did. If I really wanted to kill you right there, I would have done it without hesitation. But as you can see, I don't want you any harm as long as you don't stand between me and something I need to get rid of. "

"This decision doesn't belong to you. I did what I thought was right."

"And look how it all ended! The Wolf is gone, he kidnapped Denise and he will probably keep on killing everyone in his sight! Still think it was the right move? "

Morgan kept silent, trying to grasp everything she just said. It was true that things didn't turn out as planned.

"If you didn't show up, I'm sure it would have been fine." Morgan concluded.

"You really think I would just let this whole thing happen under my watch? That I would just accept that you let a crazy killer live because you think he has the potential to grow and evolve from this? You are totally out of your mind."

"He could have come back from this! I know he could have! He just needed time and…"

"That's bullshit and you know it. You can't make a sick twisted individual like him come back to sanity. He was too far gone."

"You…you don't know that!"

"Yes I do! I've seen it multiple times before! We just can't take chances anymore!"

"You really don't know!"

"And you think you know better?" Carol challenged.

"I do because someone took the time to make me come back to sanity!"

* * *

The truck disappeared far in the distance as the bikers were all following it. Daryl, Sasha and Abraham were left with basically nothing in the middle of the road.

"And I thought this day couldn't get any shittier." Abraham said, starting to walk.

"There is probably a connection between this group and what happened back on the road earlier today."

"But who the hell are they?! They took everything from us! Who the fuck is Negan? Why does he have to be such an asshole without even showing up?"

"They are probably part of another community or somethin' like that. They have a system of stealin' shit from people in order to survive." Daryl suggested, his facial traits getting darker from exhaustion and dehydration.

"Well, they are a bunch of fucking assholes, I'll tell you that." Abraham added, clearly pissed off.

"We could arrive home in an hour or so. We just have to keep walking without losing any more energy on this issue." Sasha said, pointing forward.

* * *

Rick had been making his way through the herd with the Andersons, Michonne, Carl and Father Gabriel for about half an hour or so. They had to be really careful not to draw attention directly to them. With all of them holding hands, they couldn't afford a simple mistake. If one got down, all of them would mostly go down too. As they were slowly approaching a more secure spot in Alexandria, Sam began talking out loud.

"Mom? Mom?" he said, not realizing that making noise was the worst single thing he could do at that exact moment.

Jessie didn't react to his pleading, too focused on moving slowly forward with the group. But Sam's panic attack was not stopping at all.

"Mom? Mom? Please!" Sam kept saying frantically.

Ron looked at Sam in disbelief and told him to shut up but he just couldn't stop. As a result, a walker grabbed Sam by the arm and pulled him out of the chain. Jessie screamed as she saw Sam getting torn apart but she couldn't let go of him as she was still in total shock. And in a quick second, she was grabbed by a walker too. Carl, who was still holding her hand, tried to remove himself from her grip before it was too late but Jessie simply wouldn't let him run away.

"Help us! Please, help us! You can't let us die here!" Jessie screamed as her neck got bitten repeatedly.

Carl looked at her in utter shock and tried even harder to get away from her but with little success. Finally understanding what was going on, Rick quickly grabbed his axe and cut Jessie's hand to release Carl from her grip. Jessie screamed even louder and fell directly into more walkers tearing her apart. Just like that, Jessie and Sam were gone. With no time to really process it, Rick urged Carl and the others to run away from the herd. Barely making it safe to another building, they all stopped to catch their breath and Ron looked furious as he saw Carl still holding Jessie's severed hand.

"You're going to pay for that! You got my entire family killed!" Ron screamed, pulling out his gun.

As Carl was about to explain himself, he realized Ron was directly pointing a gun at his dad. Rick was not expecting it at all because he just stood there motionless with his eyes wide open in disbelief. And as Ron pulled the trigger, Carl jumped right in front of him with no hesitation, taking the bullet for him. Carl then fell down on the ground, clearly hit to the face. Rick screamed in panic and Michonne pulled out her sword, killing Ron instantly. Father Gabriel looked at the whole scene with absolute fear and didn't know where to put himself at that moment. Rick went on his knees and grabbed Carl, begging him to say something. Carl's face was now disfigured at the level of his right eye, the bullet having destroyed his eye socket. And as Rick was just now realizing what he was really looking at, Carl told him: "Dad?"

* * *

 **Don't forget to leave me a review so I can see if you enjoy the story so far! Thank you!**


	2. Facade

_**Facade**_

Tara, Rosita and Eugene had managed to find Maggie by pure luck. As they were running in the streets and killing as much walkers as they could along the way, Maggie immediately saw them from her view on top of the roof she was stuck on. Quickly, she shouted Tara's name so she could attract their attention towards her. Tara caught it and ran in her direction with Rosita and Eugene behind her. The problem was that Maggie was surrounded by walkers and it would be really hard to just clear the path and get her out of there in one piece. Tara realized that if they were gonna do something about it, they had to think about it fast because the herd would soon reach them too.

"Eugene, you will have to distract them with Rosita. Think you can do it?" Tara asked in one breath.

Eugene stared at her in sudden panic.

"I don't think I'm qualified to make a run for it and distract them properly. As you can see, I'm pretty heavy and…" he finally answered.

"Shut up Eugene! God! Is it possible for you to just man up for one second? You have to step up quick or you'll die! So come with me and hurry!" Rosita snapped.

Tara could see that Rosita was slowly breaking apart without knowing if Abraham was safe out there. Her nerves were getting the best of her right now.

With no hesitation, Rosita started yelling at the walkers and Eugene hesitantly followed her lead. After a few seconds, they successfully attracted most of them and they both began running in the safest direction. Tara waited for the walkers to move a little bit before signaling Maggie to get down.

* * *

At the other side of the fence, Glenn was anxiously looking at Maggie trying to get down to the ground. She had been up there for what seemed like an eternity to him. He couldn't tell her anything from where he was standing but he knew that he had to make up a plan before going in. Enid, who had not been particularly cooperative since she had found him back at the dumpster, was rolling her eyes at the whole situation.

"Maybe it's time to leave, Glenn." she said, putting her backpack over her shoulder.

"No! My pregnant wife is just right there and you are asking me to leave her behind? What is wrong with you? "

"We can't do anything about it! Look at this big herd! If we enter Alexandria, we're done like them!"

"I'm not leaving and neither should you. This is our family. This is what we have been fighting for all this time!"

"What if she doesn't make it? What if they all die in front of us? You think you could survive seeing that happening?"

"How could you even think about that, Enid? That's crazy!" Glenn said, shaking his head in despair. "We have to find a way in and that's it, no compromise on that front!"

As Glenn began walking around the fence, something moving in the woods caught his eye immediately.

"Enid…?" Glenn whispered, pulling out his gun.

Enid made her way towards Glenn and looked around with him, visibly confused.

"You saw something?"

"I…I think I did. I just don't know what it is. Could be a walker, could be a man…I have no clue."

"Wanna check it out?" Enid suggested.

"Maybe we should, yeah, just in case."

A few seconds later, Glenn and Enid were searching for something in the woods although they had no idea what to look for. Enid was about to protest and tell him he was seeing things but at the same moment, she heard a loud scream coming from a very close distance.

"Heard that? I think someone is in trouble…let's go!" Glenn said, starting to run.

He didn't know what he was about to jump into but he felt like it was important he stepped up in this very particular situation. For once, Enid followed him without hesitation. Someone was in imminent danger and they felt like they were the only ones who could help that person right now. They ran for a little while but what they finally saw a few feet from them instantly made them feel uneasy and worried.

"Denise?!" Glenn gasped, wondering what was happening here.

"Please, don't move…" she asked, almost begging them.

"You heard her, don't move." the Wolf asked, pointing his gun directly to her temple.

Glenn could see that Denise was bleeding from the forehead, probably the reason why she was screaming a moment ago.

"What do you want from her?" Glenn demanded calmly.

"I'm bringing her back to my camp. She will fix my wounds. Got a problem with that?" the Wolf answered with a crazy smile.

Glenn couldn't believe what he was hearing. The situation was absolutely absurd to him. How did this guy manage to find Denise at Alexandria? How did he know she was able to fix him? And how did he manage to escape with her so easily? So many questions popping up in his head but her life was on the line here and he needed to think quickly.

"She is our friend. You can't just disappear with her like that!" Glenn added, trying to gain some time to think this through.

The Wolf chuckled out loud, shaking his head.

"You think I care? I'm sick and she can heal me. She can also heal my people and make us stronger. She is very valuable and you are coming too late. Leave us alone now and she won't get hurt."

Glenn sighed, trying desperately to find a compromise with him. This was a very delicate situation he needed to negotiate carefully.

"Who's that little friend of yours?" the Wolf suddenly asked, looking at Enid.

"She is none of your concern."

"She looks really fearless and brave. She could kill anyone if I asked her to. I can see it in her eyes. She would fit very well with us." he continued, totally fascinated by her.

"You don't know shit about her." Glenn told him, losing his patience.

"I think I want her to join my group. Leave her to me and you will be spared." the Wolf finally requested.

"What? No way!"

Enid finally moved forward and looked back at Glenn.

"I'm sorry. He is right. He can see right through me. He knows what I am really about." Enid declared.

"Enid, you can't be serious. Please, don't go with him!" Glenn pleaded.

Enid now stood by the Wolf and exchanged a quick look of understanding with him.

"Well, well…sorry you have to leave alone but the girl made her choice. She knows her true potential. She is one of us." the Wolf finally concluded, smiling again.

"This is insane! You can't just take my people like that!"

The Wolf slowly waved his hand at him and as he turned to walk away, Enid pulled out her gun and shot him in the head. The Wolf dropped instantly and both Denise and Glenn looked at her in pure shock. Enid shrugged and put back her gun in the holster.

"What the heck was that? You made this all up?" Glenn asked, still startled.

"I had no other choice, Glenn! You weren't gonna get out of this by yourself! I took the first opportunity I had to do something!" Enid answered, a bit frustrated.

"Well, it worked and I'm very grateful for it. Thank you." Denise said, adjusting her glasses on her nose and delicately touching the blood on her forehead. She then pulled out a small towel from her medical bag and slowly applied it to the wound.

Glenn shook his head, trying to recover from what he had just witnessed.

"How did you end up here with this guy?" he finally asked Denise.

"Oh, it's called having terrible timing and no luck." she said in a quick chuckle, trying to ease the atmosphere. Seeing that Glenn was having none of it, she continued a little bit more seriously. "His people attacked us back at Alexandria. You were on a mission when it happened. We managed to kill the majority of them, well Carol mostly did that all by herself, but Morgan kept this one alive because he thought this man could change and learn something from this. He kept him locked in his basement and he asked me to check his wounds, which I finally agreed to do. But when I ended up talking to him and learning a bit more about what he was all about, Carol quickly stepped up and told me to get away from him. Next thing I saw was Carol confronting Morgan about keeping this man alive. They argued, they fought and they both got knocked out. The guy took me as an hostage and left with me afterwards."

"That's nuts! I can't believe such a thing happened when I was gone! But your safe and that's what matters the most. Let's get back home and go help our people before it's too late!" Glenn finally suggested.

Denise agreed and the three of them made their way back to Alexandria.

* * *

The whole scene seemed to come straight up from a horror movie. Father Gabriel could not believe what he was seeing and yet, it was all very real. At that moment, he made a quiet prayer although his faith had been quite shaken in the last few days. He just didn't know what else to do except keep an eye on Judith. While Ron's dead body was still lying on the ground covered in blood, Rick and Michonne were both trying to keep Carl conscious despite the severity of his injury.

"Carl! Carl! Oh my god! Please, stay with me!" Rick pleaded, crying and panicking.

Carl's valid eye was semi-closed, as if he was about to drift apart any second now.

Michonne was holding his head and applying a piece of tissue where the blood was slowly flowing from his wound.

"We have to get him to Denise, Rick. That's his only chance." Michonne finally managed to say, swallowing her pain and sadness.

"I…I don't know where she is. I don't even know if she is alive!" Rick said, trying to grasp for air through his tears.

"We'll have to get him to the infirmary first. We'll figure things out after that. He can't stay here, it's too dangerous."

"It should have been me. Carl didn't have to do this…" Rick continued, still too shaken to really act properly.

"Rick! Rick! Calm down and listen to me! The infirmary is our best chance. We have to go there now or it will be too late!"

They shared a long glance and Rick immediately felt a little better, as if she had the power to calm him down in critical circumstances.

"Okay, we'll go. It's the only way, you are right." Rick finally answered.

Michonne offered a little smile and nodded, trying to remain hopeful that it was not over. She felt Rick's pain right through her heart and she had to offer him comfort although she was clearly broken by this whole situation too. At the moment, she had to be strong for the both of them. Rick would be losing his mind otherwise. As Father Gabriel kept holding Judith, Rick lifted up Carl and made his way towards the infirmary as fast as possible. Michonne had no clue where was Denise either but she felt that if she wasn't around to help out, Carl's chances to survive would drop drastically.

* * *

Carol didn't know how much time had passed since Tara, Rosita and Eugene left her behind but she felt as if it was an eternity ago. The pain in her body was much more attenuated but the wires tied up around her hands and feet were really not comfortable at all. She couldn't understand why Morgan was staying here with her. He was free to go and he probably didn't feel as crappy as she did. She sensed that it was probably because he didn't trust her either and he wanted to keep an eye on her. After all, he knew what she was capable of. He had seen it since his arrival at Alexandria and he didn't want to take a chance with her anymore. But what he didn't understand is that she was not deliberately trying to hurt him here. She just wanted to protect their own people and prevent another crisis from happening. And all she ever did was in her family's interest, nothing more.

The truth is that Morgan was an outsider. He didn't know everything she had to go through in order to be alive today. He didn't know about her past, all the pain that has followed her since the very beginning of the apocalypse and even before that. He didn't know who the hell she truly was. The only thing he recognized was that she didn't like to kill, which was definitely true. She didn't like it. None of it. For her, it was a burden to know she could kill if she had to and deal with the aftermath every single time. But she felt like she had to do it even if it meant slowly destroying her from the inside.

Morgan was practicing his skills with his wooden stick. He seemed really focused, as if he was trying to reach an inner peace through this exercise. Carol somehow felt like this was just a front on his part to hide the real darkness inside him. She had seen a flash of his anger during their confrontation and she knew at that exact moment he had not always been this peaceful man.

"I have to go pee." she finally said, breaking the silence.

Morgan continued his routine with no interruption.

"I'll give you a bottle. I'm not letting you out of this room." he calmly answered.

"Come on. You know this won't do."

"If I'm letting you go, I don't know what you're gonna do next and I can't risk that."

"Okay, this has to stop right now. We're supposed to be on the same team, alright? What I did earlier was not against you and it really had nothing to do with you to begin with. But you stopped me from what needed to be done and I couldn't allow it."

A long silence followed her last words. She could feel Morgan tensing up a little bit despite his will to keep his cool.

"What made you turn up like that?" he finally asked her.

"Excuse me?" she responded, confused.

"What made you this way? Why are you so eager to take everything in your own hands?"

Carol pondered his question for a long moment, not knowing exactly how to answer. She knew why she was like this, obviously, but she didn't know if she really wanted to tell Morgan about such things. Even Daryl didn't know most of it although he had always been the closest person to her in this group.

"I just changed and adapted." she simply offered, gazing in the distance.

"But why?" he insisted, now stopping his entire routine.

"Because I had to. If I didn't, I would be dead by now."

"It's the same for everybody. There must be something more you aren't telling me."

Carol sighed, shaking her head. Was she really gonna start confessing to a guy she tried to kill just a few hours ago?

"I…lost people and it changed me into what I am today, okay? You don't need to know everything." she added, clearly annoyed.

"Well, whatever happened to you, I think I can relate. I'm not like how I used to be either but a sage man I met during my journey made me come back from all this and I think you can too."

"I don't need to come back from anything!" Carol protested.

Morgan chuckled, visibly recognizing himself in her.

"I think you need to take a few steps back and open yourself to a new point of view."

Carol didn't know if he was kidding or not. There was absolutely no way she would ever embrace his way of seeing things. It was just not her at all. Maybe he got something out of it and it ultimately helped him get his sanity back but she knew she couldn't do it. Passivity was not part of her vocabulary anymore. If something needed to be done in order to survive just a little longer, she would do it. And after everything she had been through, it was the only way she could really thrive in this new world. Anything else would be just too painful for her.

"I'm not doing this Morgan, I'm sorry. I won't change my ways."

Morgan sighed deeply, finally going back to his routine.

"I'll get you a bottle shortly."

* * *

Glenn, Denise and Enid arrived at the front gate and saw Aaron trying to control the herd on the other side with Spencer.

"Oh god! There you all are!" Aaron said with a smile of relief. "Glenn…we wanted to go look for you but we just couldn't with this big herd coming here. Maggie has been worrying about you so much!"

"Me too, I have to see her immediately! Can you handle this while I go join her?"

"Yeah…, I think we'll be fine. Go see her, make sure she knows you are okay."

Glenn nodded and started running in a hurry. Denise wanted to go to the infirmary and patch up her forehead a little better before doing anything else. As for Enid, she decided to follow her and take cover wherever Denise was going.

* * *

Tara, Maggie and Rosita were killing as much walkers as possible to clear the way. It was slowly getting a little more manageable, which was definitely a good thing considering the difficult situation they were stuck into. As for Eugene, he contributed by telling them how many were coming their way so they could prepare for it. It wasn't much and he knew it, but it was still better than being a liability to them.

"Five coming left. Three on the right. There are maybe a dozen more coming slowly this way." Eugene said, looking around.

"Alright. We got this." Tara answered, sounding confident.

Rosita looked in the distance and her facial expression suddenly changed.

"Glenn! It's Glenn!" she said, really surprised to see him alive.

Maggie immediately looked around and started crying as she saw him run towards her and slashing a few walkers along the way.

"Oh my god! Glenn!" she cried, running to join him.

She jumped in his arms and started kissing him everywhere. She couldn't believe he was really there with her in that moment. She never lost hope and when she saw those green balloons, she was convinced it was him.

"I'm sorry Maggie. I'm so sorry for not coming back sooner." Glenn said, tearing up a little bit.

"It's okay. You're here now. I knew you would come back." Maggie responded with a little smile.

"Enid saved me. It was really a close call and I would have died if it wasn't for her. But now I'm staying here because I want to be there for you and the baby."

"The…what?! Did I hear right?" Tara asked, still trying to concentrate on killing the walkers coming for her.

"Yeah…Maggie is pregnant." Glenn finally said.

Tara, Rosita and Eugene all stared at each other in complete shock.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave me a review so I can see if you enjoyed it!**


	3. Coming home

**_Coming home_**

When they first stepped in, the infirmary was empty with only Scott left still lying in bed. He was obviously not aware of what was going on outside because he woke up as soon as he heard Rick coming in with Carl in his arms.

"What happened to your son?" Scott asked Rick, confused.

Rick didn't pay attention to him, too focused on getting Carl on a bed with a good pillow and lots of sheets.

"No time to explain. We need Denise now. Have you seen her?" Michonne asked back.

"Not lately. I drift in and out of consciousness so I don't remember everything but I think I saw her last when she came to check on me a few hours ago."

"No idea where she could be now?" Michonne pursued, getting worried.

"Not really. She didn't say where she was going." Scott shrugged, feeling sorry he couldn't help more.

Carl was really in a bad shape and if he wasn't getting help right about now, things could go south pretty quickly. But in Michonne's mind, it was not an option to even think about. Something had to be done even if Denise was not showing up any minute now. Michonne would have to step up and try to save this kid she considered like a son. After all, it would be the least she could do considering their close relationship since the prison. She just couldn't fail him and she wouldn't allow it either. Rick was pacing frenetically in the infirmary, not exactly knowing what to do. He felt hopeless and absolutely devastated. It was like going through Carl getting shot at the farm all over again. He remembered exactly how badly he felt when Carl fell on the tall grass, not knowing what had just happened to him. A second before, he was enjoying seeing a deer up close for the first time in his life. It was like going from a beautiful dreamlike scene to an instant nightmare in a quick second. And just like that, Carl was getting fragments of a bullet removed from his chest by an unknown veterinarian living close by. It was horrible and absolutely painful to witness. But now…he was going through this nightmare again and he didn't know if he could get through this in one piece.

Michonne started looking at the wound with more attention. It was truly horrifying. She couldn't believe that such a thing could happen to a really good boy like Carl. But at the same time, he was definitely lucky that the bullet didn't reach his brain. His right eye got blown away by the gunshot but it didn't seem to affect anything else in the proximity.

"Rick, I think Carl will be fine." Michonne finally said.

Rick stopped pacing and went up to Michonne with a glimpse of hope in his eye.

"How can you know that?" he asked, hopeful and curious.

"I'm not a specialist or anything but the gunshot left a fairly clean spot that didn't reach his brain. He will need treatment to heal properly but it's not as fatal as it seemed to be when it first happened." Michonne offered.

Rick sighed in genuine relief and put his hand on her shoulder, showing his entire gratitude towards her. Michonne felt her heart racing a little faster, like it always happened when they had a skin contact like that. She still didn't know what it all meant but she knew it wasn't as important as dealing with Carl right now.

"Thank you. Thank you for always being there for me….for Carl. I just don't know what I would be doing without you Michonne. "

Michonne smiled and nodded shyly.

"You guys are my family. This is the least I can do to protect…my people."

Rick smiled back at her and slowly removed his hand from her shoulder, now realizing that it could be awkward if he stayed like that any longer.

"And about Jessie…I'm truly sorry." Michonne finally added, feeling the need to at least address this important matter.

Rick's eyes darkened and his face got a little harder but he shook his head and tried to calm down.

"It's okay. It doesn't matter anymore…It had to be done that way. I couldn't let Carl die like that with her. It wasn't an option for me."

"I know. Still, I'm sorry. This world can be pretty harsh and cruel."

Rick nodded, sitting by Carl's side and holding his hand.

"But the most important things are still there with me and that's what I'm fighting for." Rick added.

Michonne agreed with him and as soon as she was about to try to patch up Carl, Denise suddenly entered the infirmary with Enid.

"Oh wow! What is going on here?" Denise asked, confused and surprised.

"Carl?! No, no! Tell me he is not dead!" Enid added, looking at Carl all heartbroken.

"Denise, we need you right now! He got shot in the eye!" Michonne explained.

Denise knew right then that she didn't have time to ask much more questions. She quickly grabbed a few tools and sat down near Carl to do a little exam on him.

"I'll do my best, okay? It's…not something I'm used to do." Denise went on as she checked Carl's empty eye socket.

As Rick was watching the whole procedure with anxiety, Michonne grabbed his hand and whispered to him that it was gonna be okay. Enid was trying to remain strong in front of this whole situation but she knew it was just a shell that would break any second now. The first tear came out immediately after realizing she was just a little girl after all and that she didn't need to run away all the time. And then, as she finally embraced her sadness, she wondered who had shot Carl like that.

"Who did this? Tell me!" Enid asked, now wiping her tears away.

Michonne took a long breath before giving her the answer because she knew just how much this was gonna break her.

"It was Ron. And I had to kill him." Michonne finally answered.

Enid's eyes instantly filled with rage.

* * *

Daryl, Abraham and Sasha arrived at the gate as soon as they could. They were obviously tired and dehydrated from all the things they had been through today. And they knew that it wouldn't take that much to make them all collapse to the ground.

"We have to help them out!" Sasha urged, despite the pain running through her body.

Abraham and Daryl nodded, panting heavily. Aaron immediately opened the gate and smiled when he realized they were all okay.

"Good to know you guys made it too! Glenn and Enid came back here not so long ago!" Aaron said, just before realizing they all looked pale and incredibly tired.

"You guys take my water. You need it more than I do." Aaron finally added, giving his bottle to the three of them.

Without hesitation, they all emptied his bottle in a quick minute.

"Dang, this feels good. I thought my lungs were about to burst for a second." Abraham said, giving the empty bottle back to Aaron.

"How has it been going with the herd so far?" Sasha went on, ready to pull out her knife or gun in all eventuality.

"It's been actually not so bad I guess. Maggie, Rosita, Tara, Eugene and Glenn have been doing a tremendous job here since it all started. I've not heard much about the others but I guess they are fine."

"And Carol? No words on Carol?" Daryl couldn't help but ask, worried.

Abraham chuckled and nudged Sasha but she just rolled her eyes at him and told him to stop. Aaron scratched his head and started looking around him as if trying to remember something about her whereabouts.

"I'm sorry but I have no clue about where she is right now."

Daryl's facial expression dramatically changed, turning into pure exasperation. Aaron could see right away that this wasn't going to bode well.

"Hey, she is probably hiding somewhere. I wouldn't worry about it." Aaron offered, trying to relax Daryl a little bit.

"Yeah, she is probably just fine Daryl. You know how strong she is." Sasha added.

Daryl was done hearing their excuses. He was angry at himself for probably coming in here too late. He knew all along that she could be in imminent danger when he was gone. He knew deep inside him that the more time he wasted outside those walls, the more chances she could be gone when he would come back. And now, he had no idea if she was even still alive. _I can't lose you too._ That's what she had told him back at the farm when they were right in the middle of their search for Sophia. She was the very first one to ever say something like that to him. The very first one to ever make him feel like he was wanted somewhere. She had said it with such honesty and vulnerability in her voice that he knew she really meant it. And now, after all they had been through together, he realized that it was exactly how he felt about her too. He couldn't lose her because she was the very reason he had been fighting to survive all this time. She gave him this desire to wake up each morning and keep this group together through thick and thin. Without her, this entire thing seemed almost meaningless to him. He loved his group but he also knew pretty well that Carol was really the only one he ever considered truly close to him. It had always been that way and it would probably never change. She was his home, this happy place where he could always go back to when the day was over. And he had to make sure his home was not destroyed today.

Daryl ignored everybody and started walking in Alexandria, his heart aching for answers. He didn't have his crossbow anymore so he couldn't defend himself quite as good as usual but he knew he had to give it a try anyway. He pulled out a knife and started stabbing through a small herd of five walkers. The gruesome blood splashed on his arms but he didn't even care. He went on like this as long as he could, feeling like clearing the path could somehow help him find Carol. Eventually, he stumbled on what looked like the small group Aaron was referring to earlier: Glenn, Maggie, Tara, Rosita and Eugene. He tried to walk past them to avoid talking and losing precious time but he got called out before attempting anything.

"Daryl! Don't go away! We're right here! You need to help us with this herd!" Glenn shouted, waving his arm in the air.

Daryl looked back at him and tried to ponder what to do next. The current issue was really personal to him and he didn't want to waste his time.

"Come on Daryl! What the hell are you doing? Don't you see those freakin' walkers coming all at us? We need you right now!" Tara shouted, killing a walker at the same time.

Daryl grunted heavily and immediately started slashing walkers with them. He knew he simply couldn't walk away from that.

"How many more, Eugene?" Rosita asked, rolling a walker away with her foot.

"A dozen on the left. Maybe five on the right. The biggest group we've had so far is about to come in two minutes or so." Eugene calculated quickly.

"Alright. We stick together through this and we will get it done." Maggie said, feeling quite positive.

"But you don't do too much, okay? You are still pregnant, Maggie." Glenn reminded her with a serious tone.

Daryl raised an eyebrow as he learned about Maggie's pregnancy. He realized just how much was at stake right here. A pregnant woman should not even have to participate in defending this place while others were probably hiding comfortably at home. He felt like this was highly unfair to her. Lori never had to do such a thing back at the prison when she was pregnant with Judith. She just stayed back and took care of herself because that was the only thing that made sense for her to do at that time. As the biggest group of walkers finally came by, Daryl made sure Maggie wouldn't have to do much in this fight. He knew it was the right thing to do even though his mind was drifting away to Carol.

* * *

Morgan fell asleep on the floor after a little while. It seemed like he didn't recover entirely from his fight with Carol. He refused to go sleep in his own bed because he felt like he still had to keep an eye on her. Carol couldn't believe how stubborn this man really was. _Rick has no idea what this man is capable of and I'm probably the only one who has really seen a glimpse of his darker side._ She looked around her and realized this was probably her only chance to finally get away from here. Her gun and her knife were carefully disposed at the other side of the room. She immediately made it her goal to get them back before leaving this place. She knew Morgan would still hang around Alexandria even if she escaped but she wasn't gonna be his prisoner anymore for sure. Outside this basement, she was a respected member of this community and there was no chance anyone would ever let Morgan put his hands on her. Without losing any more time, she slowly reached for her left boot and retrieved from it a small Swiss knife. _Morgan is smart but he should have anticipated by now that I never go anywhere unprepared._ She untied her hands by making slow and consistent movements that finally made her free. She then went on with her feet and did the same thing.

Carol got up and silently stretched out, rolling her neck from left to right and massaging her back and shoulders. She crossed the room and picked up her gun and knife, feeling complete by holding them close in her hands. It was a part of who she was now and she couldn't deny it. As she was about to leave the basement, she heard Morgan wake up behind her. She knew she had the option to just leave with no explanation but she wanted to take this opportunity to show him that he was wrong in trying to change her.

"How did you…?" Morgan asked, still rubbing his eyes.

Carol smiled at him and shrugged.

"Well, it seems like you underestimated me a little bit."

Morgan tried to understand how she pulled out this stunt but he then realized it didn't really matter anymore.

"Will you try to kill me now? Do we have to fight again?"

"No. I already told you this wasn't my goal. You know I don't like to kill. You've seen it by yourself. I'll never kill just for my own satisfaction. But if you step between me and a threat, you become the threat too and I can't go along with that."

"You don't have to eliminate everything on your sight all the time. You can still give people a chance."

"A chance to what? Kill me? Kill my family? Kill the people I put my life on the line to protect every single day? Stop believing in a pipe dream Morgan!" Carol shouted, angry.

"If you leave this place with that state of mind, I assure you it will be your downfall at some point." Morgan insisted, not moving one bit.

"You think you know me but you don't! Stop with your mind games, I'm not buying any of it! I don't need to change my ways of living. I was doing perfectly fine before you came in here!"

"Well, if that's honestly what you believe, I guess I'll see you around soon then. Goodbye Carol." Morgan finally said.

Carol immediately opened the door and left without looking behind her.

* * *

"Enid, you need to calm down! This is not the moment for any of this!" Rick said, pointing her to sit down on a chair.

Enid was crying and throwing a tantrum in the infirmary. The news she just learned infuriated her more than anything she had ever experienced in her short life.

"I…I trusted Ron! Why did he do this? Why did he have to be such an asshole? Shooting Carl is…insane! What the hell was wrong with him?" Enid sobbed.

Rick looked at Michonne with concerned eyes, not knowing exactly how to deal with this. Michonne understood she had to pick up this issue and deal with it.

"He wasn't trying to kill Carl." Michonne began. "He was pointing his gun at Rick initially."

"But…but why?" Enid answered, finally sitting down.

"The kid was angry at Rick for killing his father in front of everybody. He also didn't like how…Rick was getting along with his mother. He probably made up his mind right then. He stole a gun, learned how to shoot and waited for the right opportunity to strike. And when we got stuck in the middle of the herd, covered with walker blood, his brother and mother got trapped for making too much noise. As they were dying, Jessie was still holding Carl's hand, unable to let him go. Rick stepped up and axed her hand to let Carl run away. Ron saw that and it was the last straw for him. He tried to shoot Rick but Carl jumped in front of him, receiving the bullet instead."

Enid kept silent, visibly traumatized by what she just heard. She couldn't believe that this was really what happened to Carl. She had always like Ron. He used to be a good guy when she first came in. He always insisted to become her boyfriend but she preferred him as a friend instead. She knew it made him angry but he finally accepted it and tried to be there for her when she was feeling sad. But when Carl came in with Rick and the others, that's when it all changed. Ron suddenly got more jealous and protective, realizing that he might get replaced by Carl in a heartbeat. And she couldn't recognize him anymore. The Ron she knew was gone forever. The Ron she knew would have never pulled a gun to kill anyone he didn't like.

"Tell me Carl is gonna be okay." Enid asked, looking now at Denise.

Denise was doing some stitches on him, assuring that he would heal properly. It was a delicate intervention but nothing she couldn't do. She felt pretty lucky that there was no major blood loss like it happened with Holly a few days before. She was still learning as she went along and she was not mastering a lot of skills yet.

"I'm doing his stitches right now and I'll patch him up after that. He will need to recover from this for a little while. He should wake up at some point today." Denise finally answered.

Enid sighed in relief along with Rick and Michonne. Carl was going to make it through and that was really the most important thing in the end.

* * *

"Don't give up guys! It's almost over! Maybe twenty more!" Rosita said, looking around her to confirm what she was saying.

"Yeah! Those bastards have nothing on us! We got this!" Tara answered, proud.

Daryl and Glenn protected Maggie by making sure she was standing behind them. They could tell she was not really happy with that decision but they didn't care anyway. Her health was the priority and they would not let her endanger herself more than she already did, especially with this imposing herd of walkers surrounding them right now. In the distance, Abraham and Sasha were coming towards them to provide extra help. Rosita automatically started waving and smiling at Abraham but he didn't respond back, which made her feel a bit uneasy. The herd thinned down pretty quickly and soon enough, they were able to catch a little break. Rosita went up to Abraham and could immediately tell something was wrong although she didn't quite know what was going on. Sasha forced a little smile, not exactly knowing how to behave in such an awkward situation.

"We have to talk." Abraham simply said.

"Alright…" Rosita answered, eyeing him suspiciously.

Daryl put away his knife and was about to leave the group when Glenn quickly grabbed his arm. Daryl immediately clenched his fists, not liking this abrupt approach with him.

"Hey, wait a second Daryl. I want to thank you for protecting Maggie with me. It was a nice thing for you to do." Glenn finally said, grateful.

"Ya sure…no problem." Daryl mumbled.

"Are you okay? You seemed preoccupied before coming here to help us." Glenn added, now concerned.

"It's fine…I'm just lookin' for Carol, that's all."

"Oh…I see."

Glenn didn't need to hear more from Daryl to know exactly what was going on. He knew how much Carol meant to Daryl. It had always been so obvious to him from the start. There was no denying the strong bond between them, although he still didn't know whether they were an item or not after all this time.

"Did you say Carol?" Tara asked, jumping into the conversation.

"Ya…I'm lookin' for her." Daryl simply answered.

"I know where she is! Well, I know where I left her at least…" Tara offered.

Daryl started looking at her with more attention, ready to take the precious info in.

"She is at Morgan's apartment, taking a nap in his basement."

Daryl thanked her and rushed immediately towards Morgan's apartment. Glenn and Tara looked at each other with astonishment.

"Well, it really does look like Carol has a strong power on him!" Tara said, chuckling.

"Yeah…Carol is probably the only person on Earth to make him act like that. It's actually pretty funny to witness." Glenn said, smiling.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave me a review, it's always highly appreciated! The next chapter will be up after the holidays!**


	4. The storm

_**The storm**_

The clouds in the sky were getting a lot darker, as if a storm was about to come anytime soon. The streets of Alexandria were a complete desolation with all these corpses and blood covering the ground. The community no longer looked like the safe sanctuary it used to be but they were facing the biggest crisis this place ever had and it was their job to clean up and start again. With Deanna's plans for Alexandria, the last legacy she left before dying, they all had a chance to get this place in a better shape and work towards a better future. A real home with opportunities for everybody. As Carl finally got patched up by Denise and Rick began smiling again, Michonne kept remembering the last words she exchanged Deanna just a few hours ago. _What do you want for yourself?_ Ever since she lost everything she knew from her previous life, Michonne never stopped to ask herself this important question until Deanna told her to do so. Of course, she wanted Alexandria to stand strong so no one would be afraid to live again. But beyond that, she never really dug deep enough into her own desires to finally grasp what she wanted for herself. Somehow, she always felt like it was a selfish thing to do in a world like this. That helping your group was probably the only important thing left to do when everything was scrambling around you. But seeing Carl making it through gave her the hope necessary to start wondering about herself and her own aspirations again. She then looked at Rick with soft eyes, like realizing this could be the thing she always wanted all along. This tall scruffy man with all kinds of flaws and a heart of gold could very well be a part of the answer she never gave to Deanna. When they first met at the prison, they didn't really trust each other initially but they slowly built up a strong bond ever since. He was one of the very few people who made her come back to sanity, along with Carl and Andrea. Before that, she was entirely closed off, ready to lose herself in a world filled with despair and death. And today, she was probably the closest she ever been to start wondering about her possibilities since the apocalypse started. She had options and she realized she could now use them. She could rebuild this community with Rick and lead this new world with him.

"What are you thinking about?" Rick asked Michonne, with a little smile.

"Oh, nothing. I was just realizing things could get better starting from now."

"Yeah…I hope you are right."

"Me too, Rick. Me too." Michonne concluded.

* * *

The rain was starting to fall. Carol immediately killed a few walkers as she left Morgan's apartment, reminding herself that she still had work to do in order to secure this place. She was already feeling a little bit weak again but she didn't want to stop right here. She felt like she couldn't wait around anymore. She had wasted enough time talking to Morgan like that. This guy was clearly missing a few marbles in his head. She didn't like how he wanted to teach her new ways of handling things. It's not because it worked for him that it would work for her too. She knew she could be doing extremely difficult things at times but it was always out of necessity. If she wasn't there to do it, who would have done the hard things that needed to be done? When Lizzie needed to be put down, who could have done it if she wasn't there to handle it? It was clear that Tyreese would have never pulled it off by himself. He couldn't kill humans even if his life depended on it. She wasn't blaming him for lacking the strength to do it but she knew that in such a hard situation like this, someone needed to step up and it had to be her. She embraced it rather quickly because she realized that she could do pretty much anything if it needed to be. It scared her and she didn't like it at all but it was now a part of who she was willing to be in this new world.

Somehow, she came to acknowledge that her previous life slowly molded her to be in this hard position today. Since the very first time she met Ed, she started changing in a woman capable of adapting to the worst conditions you could put her through in order to assure her survival. And it was even stronger when Sophia was born because she now had to protect the both of them. Day after day, she was consistently walking on eggs with her husband, making sure she would not wake up the beast in him. She always did as he pleased but when he wasn't around, she tried to offer Sophia some kind of normal childhood. They made cookies together, played in the park, went to the restaurant or the movies. It wasn't much and Carol knew it but it was all she could offer her daughter with her current situation. Her closest friend, Sally, told her multiple times before to leave this asshole behind but Carol just couldn't do it. It wasn't as easy as it all seemed from the exterior. Ed was a possessive, abusive and manipulative jerk. He knew how to play nice with you when he wanted you to stay right at your place. And since she didn't want to be alone, she taught herself to believe him every single time. She did it because she wanted to buy extra time, just like she was now doing with her life in the apocalypse. She had become an expert in pushing further the inevitable by doing things that seemed impossible at first sight. Her capacity to adapt saved her countless times in the past and it would keep saving her for as long as she was ready to do the necessary. That's why she couldn't allow Morgan to lecture her about her way of living.

As she kept running under the rain, she encountered two walkers she didn't expect at the corner of a house and had to battle her way through them. One of the walkers tried to reach for her arm but she kicked him in the stomach and rapidly stabbed him in the head. The other one was about to grab her but she fell on the ground in an attempt to avoid an imminent scratch or bite. She shot him in a quick second before he could even do anything else and he immediately fell on top of her. She was now breathing with difficulty, realizing the whole situation left her out of breath. She had a really close call. Her shirt was soaked with rain, blood from the walker she had just shot and his guts that had spilled all over her. She tried not to get sick but it was just too much for her at the moment. Her head got really dizzy from all this fighting and she couldn't contain it anymore. She turned her head to face the wet grass and emptied her stomach right there. The last time she had gotten sick like that was when she had morning sickness from her pregnancy. She wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve and tried to stand up slowly. Once on her two feet, she decided to go back to the house she shared with the Grimes, Michonne and Daryl. She came to the conclusion that she was really no use in a fight today. Once at home, she removed her soiled clothes, put on something more comfortable and stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. _Oh god, I look so tired and weak…What happened to me?_ And in that moment, a sudden tear reached the corner of her left eye.

* * *

Morgan's apartment was slowly appearing in Daryl's vision after a few seconds of running. This was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for ever since he left Alexandria for his mission. He entered the place and saw no one, which he expected since Tara told him Carol was most likely in the basement. He silently went downstairs, trying not to scare anyone, and Morgan quickly jumped in front of him with his wooden stick in a self-defence move.

"What the hell?!" Daryl quickly growled.

Morgan realized it was just Daryl and he immediately put his wooden stick against a wall.

"Oh sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, Daryl. I just didn't know who was coming here…" Morgan simply offered.

"Ya…okay. Where is Carol? Ain't she here?" Daryl went on, looking in the small dark room.

Morgan didn't answer, his expression getting colder. Daryl could feel Morgan was hiding something from him and he didn't like it at all.

"C'mon. Ya know where she is. Just tell me." Daryl urged, getting closer to Morgan now.

"She left a moment ago. You barely missed her."

"What?! She left? Where did she go…?"

Morgan stared at him and crossed his arms on his chest, his expression remaining cold.

"Why does it matter so much to you where she went, Daryl?"

Daryl didn't answer, feeling like he didn't have to justify himself to him.

"This woman is a liability to all of us." Morgan went on. "She doesn't care about you or this group. She is just doing her own little thing all the time, playing God with the people she thinks are a threat."

"Ya don't even know her! How can you even come up with such bullshit?" Daryl answered, staring right back at him.

"I know enough, Daryl. I can see right through her. But you, you seem blinded by your affection for her."

Daryl shook his head and paced angrily in the room. It reminded him of this anger he felt when Rick told him about Carol's banishment back at the prison. It made him go crazy and if it wasn't for the Governor's attack, he would have rushed outside to go look for her even if it would take him weeks to do so.

"I'm not blind. I know who she is. I've known her since the very start and she ain't the person you think she is."

"Is that so? Then why did she attack me earlier today, Daryl? Why did she threaten to kill me for not allowing her to kill someone I kept in hostage? Why did I have to knock her down to the ground just so she could stop fighting me?"

Daryl processed what Morgan had just said. In his mind, this entire scenario made no sense at all. Morgan and Carol…were fighting? Morgan kept someone in hostage and Carol wanted to kill him? He just didn't know what to make of this.

"She needs to come back from the state of mind she is stuck in. That's the only way she can move forward with this community. Do you understand that? She is not the woman you used to know…not anymore. I'm sorry Daryl…"

Daryl grabbed Morgan by the collar and slammed him against the wall, preventing him from moving away.

"Keep your sorry for yourself. I don't need that crap. Carol ain't a fuckin' monster like you're tryin' to portray her. I know her. She does the hard stuff to help our family survive. She saved us all by herself multiple times before and she never took credit for any of it. So ya don't have the right to judge her, alright?" Daryl growled through his teeth.

Morgan grabbed Daryl's wrist with unexpected force and threw it away.

"You are as stubborn as she is. You both don't understand anything I've been saying this whole time." Morgan answered.

"Nah, we do get it but we know it's bullshit. Your zen stuff will get you killed. Playin' the master of kung-fu or whatever ya doin' is a big mistake here."

Morgan looked at his wooden stick still placed against the wall and pondered a thing or two about what Daryl had just said. Could Eastman really be wrong after all they had been through together? Was peace not the answer after all? But without that inner peace, he would still be a killing machine today and that's why he had to cling onto this ideology.

"If it's getting me killed, then so be it. I've seen the darkest sides of me, Daryl. I've seen what I was able to do out of pure anger and frustration. I don't ever wanna go back to this place again. Reaching peace is my ultimate way of coping with the things I've lost. Without it, I'd go insane again and probably end up killing more innocent people."

"What about a middle ground? Ya don't have to be this extreme all the time."

Morgan sighed, looking around him as if he was the prisoner of his own body and he couldn't escape anywhere.

"I…I can't. It's all or nothing for me. There's no coming back from this."

"Alright, it's your choice. Do you know where Carol is now?"

"She didn't tell me. As you can see, we are not exactly on good terms right now…"

"Well, I wouldn't be with ya either if ya slammed me to the damn ground." Daryl said, opening the door and leaving Morgan behind.

* * *

"I can't be with you anymore." Abraham told Rosita in the house they shared with Eugene, Tara, Sasha, Glenn and Maggie.

"I'm sorry…what?!" Rosita answered, in complete shock.

"You heard me right. I can't do this anymore…It just doesn't feel right."

"What the heck is going on with you Abraham? You are leaving me…right now? Have you seen the state of this place for one second? This is not the time to deal with this!" Rosita shouted.

"I couldn't wait any longer…This is not something I want to carry around with me too long." Abraham said seriously.

Rosita remained silent and looked at him with evident pain in her eyes. Abraham knew this wasn't going to be easy.

"You have every right to be angry at me. I just feel like we need to go our separate ways right now. During my mission….I have felt something I never thought I could feel again and it made me happy. I felt alive."

"And that suddenly means you can't be with me anymore?"

"You don't get it. While out there, I had my life on the line for this community and I felt important for the first time in a really long time. I felt this rush of adrenaline running through my body. It was like I finally found my reason of living by doing that risky mission. And Sasha knew exactly how I felt. She was feeling alive too. At that moment I connected with her like I never did with anyone before." Abraham explained.

"You are an egoistic asshole, Abraham. You're leaving me for Sasha? Christ, you barely know that girl! Are you forgetting all the things we have been through before joining this group?"

"I do, Rosita. But I just feel like this is what needs to be done so I can be happy again. I also want you to be happy and I know I can't provide what you need anymore." Abraham said, sitting down on the couch of the living room.

"You don't know that. Anyway…whatever, I guess. Do what the hell you want with Sasha, I have better things to do like actually dealing with real issues outside this house." Rosita snapped, before opening the front door.

"Rosita, wait…" Abraham pleaded.

The door slammed right on his two words.

* * *

"I'm okay, dad." Carl finally managed to say, a bandage covering a part of his face.

Rick smiled at him and squeezed his hand gently. Enid was holding his other hand, gazing at him with tender eyes.

"Carl, you…didn't have to do that for me. I'm your father and it is my job to protect you, not the other way around." Rick told him with concern.

"You would have died and I couldn't let this happen. I'm old enough to take my own decisions. Ron didn't like the both of us and I knew I had a part of responsibility into this situation. I don't regret what I did, dad." Carl answered, slowly touching his bandage.

Rick shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose to recollect his mind. Carl was growing up too fast. He shouldn't have to deal with this kind of stuff at such a young age. It was just…way too much for a teenager to handle. And it was even more devastating that another teenager started it all. His mind then drifted to Jessie and how she had been stuck raising two kids with no good father figure for them. It was obvious that without a proper upbringing, those two kids were condemned to face a wall at some point. And today was the day it all happened, which cost them all their lives. It was a tragic story from beginning to end.

"It takes great courage to do what you just did." Denise offered, cleaning up her mess after the intervention.

"Thanks. Like I said, I don't regret it. And I couldn't stop myself from doing something." Carl responded.

Enid and Carl finally looked at each other and they smiled shyly.

"I'm sorry for running away." Enid offered sincerely. "I just freaked out when things started getting more serious here. I never intended to hurt you."

"I know you didn't, don't worry about it." Carl reassured her.

"The letters I wrote you before leaving…they have a meaning to me."

"What do they mean?"

"It stands for Just Survive Somehow. That's something I used to write myself all the time to keep going when things started getting hard. It's like some magic words to me. I repeat it in my head and all the problems seem to suddenly vanish away. I wanted to bring you luck before leaving and it seems like it worked out well for you."

"Yeah…I guess it did. I'm still here to confirm it." Carl said, chuckling.

"Do you still see pretty good? How is it like right now?"

"It's a bit weird at first but it's not as bad as it seems. I will get used to it. My valid eye is just working a little harder to make up for the other one."

"Yeah…well, you are very courageous, Carl. I'm sorry Ron did this to you. I feel so bad for dragging you into all this."

"It's not your fault, Enid. Ron was angry for a lot of other reasons and you don't have to feel guilty for this." Carl explained.

Enid nodded and slowly leaned in to kiss Carl on the cheek. Carl smiled in satisfaction and realized this was exactly what needed to be done, even if the cost was pretty huge. They all had to sacrifice something in order to be here and it wasn't going to be an easy ride for any of them. Even Rick, his own father, couldn't stop this kind of stuff from happening. Life was always going to keep on grabbing everything from them until there would be nothing left. And as he reached this conclusion, the storm grew louder into the evening slowly settling in.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave me a review so I can see if you enjoy the story so far!**


	5. Moving on together

**_Moving on together_**

Carol was feeling all alone in this big house that used to be quite alive with the laughs of Judith, the playful spirit of Carl, the smart conversations of Rick and Michonne…and the unique humor of Daryl. She felt the loneliest she had ever been in a long while and it was really the most terrible feeling ever. She didn't like what she had to become to survive. It made her feel like a loner, an outsider…someone who didn't have a true place to call home. Even though she loved her family with all her heart, she somehow felt like she didn't belong anymore. This painful feeling never truly left her ever since she had lost Lizzie and Mika. She believed she had too much emotional baggage to keep living like this with a community. Daryl did try to put her back on track after Terminus, and it actually worked for a little while, but she was now at point zero all over again with this whole Morgan thing. She was truly on the edge of living this place for good. She left like if she stayed any longer, this would destroy herself to tiny pieces.

Carol took a good look at the backpack in her wardrobe and pondered what to do next. Her hands were shaky from the anxiety and the lack of sleep. She realized that even if she decided to leave, people would probably find a way to stop her. After all, how could she leave at the front gate without a specific order? No one would let her leave by herself right now and especially with no good reasons at all. The herd was still out there. It was considerably thinned out since the breakout in Alexandria but it was still a threat nonetheless. No one was truly safe right now and everybody knew it. But at the same time, she didn't know how much longer she could really stay here either. With Morgan hanging around and all her unresolved issues still bottled up inside, she truly believed this wasn't gonna end well. As it stands, she was like a ticking bomb, ready to explode at any moment. She needed to get away so no one would have to deal with this.

She started packing her things mechanically, having done this too many times to count in the past. She only put the necessary in her backpack so it wouldn't be a burden to her down the line. She then fully charged her handgun and her rifle, putting the rest of her ammunition in the bag. She went on looking around her for anything else she could have forgotten and ended up staring at the book on childhood abuse that Daryl had left on her nightstand. She picked up the book and slowly caressed it with her fingers, remembering when Daryl took it from the women shelter back in Atlanta. He had left it there because he wanted Carol to share this journey with him. She was very surprised when he first came to her with this intention in mind but she immediately accepted to do it for him. She just knew how important it was to him. She still remembered perfectly that night when he knocked at her bedroom door with the book in his hands.

"Who is it?" Carol said, hearing someone knocking at her door.

"Daryl." he answered almost in a whisper.

"Oh! Come in!"

Daryl opened the door and stood there in front of her, not sure what to do next. It felt as awkward as back in Atlanta when they both shared a small bedroom together.

"What is it about?" Carol asked, knowing fully well that he was probably not trying to put a move on her right now.

"I...um…Ya remember this book right here?" Daryl asked, showing her the book in his right hand.

"Yeah, of course I do. What about it?"

"I've been wonderin' if ya could read it with me…Maybe explain some stuff to me."

"Of course, Daryl. I'll be happy to do it." Carol answered with a proud smile.

Daryl then sat down shyly beside her on the bed, making the tension between them even stronger than before, and opened the book at the first page. Carol started reading the first paragraph to him and Daryl listened attentively. She had never seen him like that, so willing to learn and better himself. He was truly serious when he said he wanted to start over. He wanted to make a real change because he knew that was the only way things could work out in the future. Carol explained to him a few notions along the way, realizing that she was actually learning a thing or two about her own abusive past. She had never been an abused child like Daryl but she could recognize some elements in the book that were also relevant to the situation she had been stuck in with Ed. It was all very eye-opening and she was secretly thanking Daryl for picking up this book in the first place. After Carol ended up the first chapter, she closed the book and called it a day because she was tired. Daryl nodded and offered her a little smile on the corner of his lips.

"Thanks. I needed that." he told her in all honesty.

"I'm proud of you. What you are doing is incredible."

"Ya well…I'm just fixin' my ol' stuff, that's all."

"Some people would never bother trying."

"Like I told ya already, I'm tryin'. We need to start over."

Carol's eyes suddenly drifted away from him, gazing at the wall before her.

"And what if we can't?"

"What do ya mean…?" he asked, confused.

"What if we can't start over because we're too far gone with our past mistakes?"

"We can always start over. That's our choice, whatever the fuck we did in the past."

Carol nodded, trying to believe what he just said. Maybe there was still a chance for her to start over after all? A way she could forgive herself for everything that went wrong?

And she knew that if Daryl was willing to give it a try, she had no reason not to try with him.

Anyway, that's what she thought that night. But today was entirely different and she knew she was probably at a point of no return. Carol put back the book on the nightstand and then lifted the backpack on her shoulder, ready to go. She looked at her room one last time, taking in all the memories, and closed the door behind her. That was it. She would be gone from Alexandria in just a few minutes now. She would figure a way out of this place without being seen and disappear forever.

* * *

The huge storm was not getting any calmer as Daryl was running down the street. The pouring rain made his entire clothes soaking wet, which made him shiver uncontrollably. He realized the place was getting very gloomy and it was possibly the worst time to be stuck outside with those walkers still roaming. Indeed, it was practically impossible to see clearly with the huge clouds and the rain washing up the community. Despite those horrible conditions, he was running so fast that he was even surprised he hadn't already passed out on the ground after everything he had been through in one day. He didn't know where to look for Carol but he somehow felt like she wasn't that far away from him, which was truly comforting to think about. He played again in his head the cruel words Morgan used to describe Carol. He couldn't believe that such things could even be said about her. He knew Carol very well and she wasn't anything like this. Of course, she was damaged but it didn't mean that she had bad intentions towards people or that she was a horrible person to begin with. She was just getting shit done for her family and it was a beautiful part of who she had become as a survivor.

He truly admired everything about her. He was amazingly impressed by her strong desire to make things right for her people, even if it meant sacrificing herself to achieve it. And when she saved them all at Terminus despite her previous banishment, he realized just how special she truly was deep inside. This woman was unstoppable and he was really proud to share a close relationship with her. When he reunited with her after her accomplishment, he couldn't help himself but to embrace her for the really first time in front of the entire group. It was out of character for him to do such things but it just seemed so natural to hug her at that very moment. He really wanted to feel her against him. He wanted to make her know just how much he missed her since their last talk. To him, nothing else really mattered except reuniting with that woman he believed he had lost forever. And since then, he had been trying to always keep an eye on her so they could move on together. That's why he wanted to go back to her so badly just mid-way through his mission. He knew he needed to be there for her. And now, he had to get back to her quickly because that was the only thing that seemed right to do at the moment.

He was getting closer to the house he shared with the Grimes, Michonne and Carol. He didn't know whether to stop there for a second or not but just as he was about to keep on going, he saw someone opening the front door. His heart skipped a few beats when he saw Carol appearing in the frame. He couldn't see her totally clearly because of the storm but he just knew it was her. She stopped moving when she recognized him and they both shared a long look. Carol then went down the stairs and stopped right in front of him, her face trying to maintain her composure. Daryl could tell she wasn't feeling well at all. She wasn't even smiling and she didn't have that spark in her eyes like she used to.

"Hey, I'm happy to see ya." Daryl finally managed to say.

Carol couldn't help but offer a little smile and put her hand on his cheek.

"I'm happy to see you too." she answered him, her voice cracking from the emotion.

Daryl could barely notice it but she was starting to cry under the rain. He stepped closer to her and slowly embraced her in his arms. She cried against his chest, her hands clenching desperately at his vest. Daryl held her firmly, making sure she was standing in place. He even put his hand on the back of her head to provide more comfort. They stayed like that for a minute or two, not moving at all under the heavy rain. Carol eventually broke the hug and faced him with a painful expression on her face.

"I…have to go." she finally said.

"You don't have to." he answered with concern.

"Daryl…there's no need to try to stop me. My decision is already taken."

Daryl grimaced, not knowing what to do to make sure she wasn't running away. The last time this exact situation happened, he wasn't even sure if she was truly gonna go back to the group with him if it wasn't for the car they started pursuing in an attempt to save Beth. But now, he had to make sure she wasn't stepping outside this place during the storm. This was suicide no matter how skilled and prepared she was. Sooner or later, she would eventually give in and lose the game. She had to stay here for her own survival, for her future inside the community, for their whole family, for…him. And that's why he couldn't allow her to run away. Leaving this place was like giving up on everything they had worked on so hard to build for themselves. This was just not something he could ever let her do.

"Ya can't quit! Ya belong here! This is our home!" Daryl insisted, pointing everywhere around him.

"No…this is your home, not mine. You have found your purpose here, Daryl. This place is wonderful but I think it's truly better without me."

Daryl shook his head in despair. Was she really thinking all this stuff about herself? This was absolutely absurd.

"Let's enter the house, okay? We'll talk about this." he suggested, almost pleading her.

"What more is there to say? I don't know if it's a good idea…"

"Please. Do it for me. Let's just talk for a minute. I'll leave ya alone after that, okay?"

Daryl stared at her with so much intensity that she could tell this was really important to him. She finally agreed to do it just because it was him and he really mattered to her. They entered the house soaking wet. Carol dropped her backpack on the floor and took a seat just in front of Daryl. They both looked miserable and incredibly tired. An awkward silence took over the living room, with just the sound of the rain hitting the windows.

"Fuck this. I'm takin' a drink." Daryl said, getting up and pouring himself a glass of scotch in the kitchen.

He then sat back in front of Carol and immediately took a sip of his drink. Carol looked at her boots forming a little puddle of water on the floor. In other circumstances this thing would drive her nuts and she would go clean it up immediately but right now it just didn't matter at all. She just stared at this whole mess and almost shrugged.

"I told ya we were gonna try, do ya remember that?" Daryl finally spitted out.

"I know but it simply doesn't work for me. I can't do it." Carol answered, feeling defeated.

"Why?"

"Because I feel…responsible for too much already and I can't take much more on my shoulders, okay?"

Daryl stopped talking and took another sip of his drink. He knew that Morgan had probably been her last straw.

"It's because of Morgan, right?" he finally said.

Carol's eyes finally looked at him for the first time since they entered the house. He instantly understood he was right about all this.

"Not just Morgan but he is certainly a part of the equation. How do you know about that?" she asked, intrigued.

"Tara told me ya were at his place so I went there by myself. Morgan said ya had just left a bit ago but he also talked a bit about his fight with ya and how everything went to shit. I guess that's somethin' that pushed you to your limits." Daryl explained.

Carol was impressed by how much Daryl could decipher by himself without being there to witness anything from the actual scene. She believed that's what made him such a good tracker in the first place. He knew how to recreate a story in his mind and deduct a lot of things about it.

"Yeah…that's right. He treated me like I was a monster, Daryl. He kept me in his basement, all tied up, and he tried to sell me his way of dealing with things. It was just too much for me. After all I have been through already…this wasn't the right time to talk to me just like he did."

"He is losin' his mind, don't bother about him. If he tries to annoy you again, I'll punch him in the throat. Ya are more valuable to this place than he is, remember that."

"It's not so easy to just forget about it…There are a lot of things that I have to force myself to forget already because it's just too much for me otherwise. And if I add this thing up, I'll just explode. I can't contain more than I already have."

"What more do ya keep inside?"

"Daryl…" Carol sighed.

"Ya have to tell me. It's good for ya to let it out once and for all." Daryl insisted.

Carol started crying again, wiping her tears away with her hand. Just thinking about it was bringing back so many emotions within her. That's when she realized she had really never talked about this to anyone until now. Maybe Daryl was right and it was the moment to finally let go from this.

"The girls…Lizzie and Mika…" Carol began, not knowing exactly how to go on.

"Yeah…they died, I know." Daryl continued.

"But it wasn't simply just…death." Carol tried to explain, sniffing and forcing herself to contain the rest of her tears.

"What do ya mean?" Daryl asked, confused.

"Lizzie…was…not a normal little girl. She thought the walkers were…alive. And she killed Mika to prove it to me and Tyreese. She insisted her sister would come back alive just like before. She was also about to do the same to Judith. So…I…I decided with Tyreese that it was better if…we just put an end to it." Carol went on, her eyes staring again at the puddle at her feet.

"An end…to it?" Daryl repeated, trying to understand what she was trying to say.

"Yeah…killing Lizzie. I killed Lizzie to save Judith." Carol finally released.

Another silence filled up the place and the storm seemed even louder outside than it was before. Daryl took another sip of his drink, shaking a little bit now. He couldn't believe Carol had kept such a huge thing deep inside her all this time. No wonder she was starting to freak out and feel bad about herself. But she did what needed to be done and that was all there was to say about it.

"Ya did the right thing." Daryl said, rolling the empty glass between his hands.

"You think so?"

"Yeah…I mean, it's not like ya had many other options to choose from. She was gonna get other people killed anyway."

Carol nodded, feeling suddenly relieved by his reaction. He didn't seem to hate her for it or think she was crazy. He was acting…pretty understanding of the whole situation.

"It was so hard…you have no idea how difficult it was for me to do it. I loved this little girl with all my heart. She was mine, just like Mika and…Sophia. They were all my daughters."

"Nah, I get it. I'm sure it was fuckin' awful. You're strong for dealing with this situation like ya did. Most people would just…give up and take the wrong decision in that case. But ya did just right and ya don't have to feel bad about it." Daryl explained.

"Thank you. It really means a lot to me." Carol said, offering a little smile.

"Ya the best person I know. What ya do always comes from the right place."

Carol finally stood up, totally catching Daryl off guard. He suddenly felt like he messed up something by talking too much and she was now leaving this place for good.

"Where are ya goin'?" he asked, worried.

"Putting dry clothes and bringing back the book about abusive childhood. I think you were right, I need to finally allow myself to move on just like you are trying to do and we can do this together." she said, smiling fully now.

Daryl let out a quick laugh and smiled back at her, happy to have changed her mind about staying here.

"And change those awful wet clothes before we start reading! You smell even more disgusting than usual!" she said, laughing as she went upstairs.

"Not as bad as ya!" he answered back.

And they spent the rest of the night snuggling in the living room reading another chapter of the new life they were trying to build for each other.

* * *

 **Thanks for leaving a review! Hope you all enjoyed the Caryl reunion! :)**


	6. A new beginning

_**A new beginning**_

The streets of Alexandria were starting to look great again after a few days of hard work. Everybody managed to come together in an effort to make things right and build up a future for the community. Rick was looking at the whole scene with pride in his eyes. He was truly amazed by all the things that were getting done ever since this tragic night that made them lost so many people, including their ex-leader, Deanna. She had so many plans for this sanctuary but she knew in the end that only Rick and Michonne could realize this project if she had to die sooner than later. And she was right. After the initial crisis, Rick rallied the group and made a speech about the importance of this place for the future generations to come. He and Michonne presented the plans Deanna had written for Alexandria and started dispatching the work between all the members of the community. They believed this was the key to their survival: working together towards progress and development. He could see that Michonne was exactly on the same page as him and that they were really going in as a team. They were now the official protectors of this community and they couldn't afford to fail this important task.

"I know a lot happened in the last few days." Rick had said to the whole group. "But we're still standing right now because we went through this together. We helped each other survive even when all things seemed lost. And that's exactly what this community needs from us right now if we want it to thrive in the future and give us a better life. The people we lost will always be remembered and we will make everything right to honor their memories. Now, we need to stick together and follow this plan to help this community grow into what it should really be for all of us."

"This will be a long process for all of us but we will achieve it with the right mindset." Michonne added, standing by Rick's side. "We need to rebuild this place and transform it into a sanctuary where we could all live together in peace. The world outside is in a terrible shape but we can manage to build something worth it in here. We have a plan made by Deanna and we only need to follow it if we want to make things better. "

"And what exactly do we have to do right now?" Glenn asked, putting a hand on Maggie's belly.

"We clean this place, first thing." Michonne responded. "After that, we get into our roles and we do what needs to be done. We'll build a school for the children, we'll plant some crops to start a garden, we'll develop a whole bunch of things so we can live like in a society again. We absolutely need this if we want to plan something long term."

Glenn nodded and Maggie smiled. This seemed like the right way to start over and build something worth living for. Abraham surprised himself by staring at Sasha but he just couldn't control it. This woman felt like someone he could build a future with. Sasha realized he was staring at her and she gave him a little smile in return. She still didn't know what she was feeling for him but he made her feel good about herself and she decided this was enough for her at the moment.

"So that's it. We start right now and we make it work." Rick finally added, closing the meeting.

And this meeting had paid off greatly because ever since it occurred, everybody was working hand in hand to meet the expectations of Deanna's plans. Michonne was supervising the whole thing with Rick from a distance and she was beaming with happiness.

"This is everything we've ever wanted." she told him.

"Yeah…, it sure is. That's our new beginning right there." Rick answered.

"Maybe we don't need to run anymore. Maybe this is it for good."

"I want this to be, Michonne. I truly want this to be."

Rick squeezed Michonne's hand in a quick instant and they both looked at each other with a common understanding. This felt so natural that they didn't feel the need to explain what the heck was going on at this exact moment. And without any more waiting, Rick closed the gap between their faces and they kissed tenderly. They didn't care if anybody was watching them, it just happened because they both wanted it for so long.

* * *

"I'm goin' on a run with Rick. We need supplies if we want the plan to be working out." Daryl told Carol as he was packing up a bag in their house.

"Alright. Do you want me to do anything for you?" Carol asked him.

"Nah…just stay safe. Don't do somethin' stupid like leavin' in the middle of the night, okay? I won't allow this to happen again." Daryl answered, closing his bag and now facing her.

"I promise it won't happen anymore. I feel better now."

"Ya sure? I ain't leavin' if ya feel like crap. I wanna help ya the best I can."

"It's really okay, Daryl. You can go. I'll help everybody around and just do my part."

"Okay then. I'll check up on ya right when I get back." Daryl finally said, not really knowing what to do next.

Carol laughed and gave Daryl a quick hug to ease him down.

"Take care. I need to know you'll be fine, too." Carol whispered in his ear.

Daryl nodded, smiled at her and then left the house with his bag. Carol looked at him leaving through the window and sighed deeply.

* * *

The run was looking promising. They were gonna get the best supplies they could find in order to respect Deanna's plans. They needed a bunch of school supplies, food, medicine, warm clothes and other objects that would be very practical for their new start. Rick brought Daryl with him because he knew they could work it out just fine by themselves. They didn't need a ton of people with them to accomplish this mission and they would be done within the day. Daryl could notice that Rick was looking a lot more relaxed than usual and he started wondering why. This didn't seem quite right with what he was used to for the past years.

"What's happenin' with ya all smilin' and stuff?" Daryl asked Rick, genuinely curious.

"I don't know, Daryl. I just feel like we're finally getting our payoff for all this suffering." Rick simply offered, gazing on the road in front of him.

"Ya really think so? Maybe it's too soon to celebrate just yet…"

Rick shrugged and chuckled a little bit. He didn't know if Daryl was right but he didn't really care at all. In his head, it all made sense. They were rebuilding this place and offering their people what they truly needed to move on from this chaotic world. And with Michonne by his side, he felt like he could do absolutely anything. She already helped him so much with Carl's recent injury and they were now bonded together much closer than ever before.

"Michonne and I are doing the right thing by following Deanna's plans. This will work, I'm truly sure of it. We'll make sure this is done the right way." Rick offered.

"Ya guys are a thing now, aren't ya? I started wonderin' after your little speech."

Rick nodded and smiled proudly.

"Yeah…I didn't really see it coming until it just happened, you know? It's like we have been together for so long without even realizing it. We're a strong team and I can't see myself succeeding without her by my side."

"Right." Daryl simply answered.

His thoughts suddenly drifted to Carol and the last few days they had spent together. It was truly good to have her by his side again and just spend some quality time alone and unwinding. They both needed it and they helped each other improve their self-esteem tremendously. The book on childhood abuse was surprisingly a really good tool to overcome their inner demons and Carol had helped him a lot facing what he needed to face for a really long time now. At this rate, he was more and more willing to consider settling down with her officially. He never thought about such things before but now…it could finally come up as a real possibility if things were going as great as Rick predicted. He never talked to her about it but he was definitely thinking about it for quite some time now. It was obvious to him just how much he needed her in his life. His last mission proved it once again as he was so worried for her that he wanted to stop everything to go check up on her. Carol was his everything and losing her was not even an option. That's why he worked so hard to make her stay at Alexandria with him.

"What are you thinking about?" Rick asked, looking at him quickly.

"What you just said, I guess…The whole thing about settlin' down and movin' on with a life partner."

"Oh, right…and what do you think about that? You think I'm stupid for thinking about this and giving it a try?"

"Nah…you're right to try it. We have a home, we are quite safe in there right now…it makes sense. "

"You think you'll give it a try one day? You know…with Carol? " Rick finally said, testing the waters with him.

Daryl kept silent for a few seconds before finally sharing his thoughts on the matter.

"I want it…but I don't know if I should. "

"Why not? We have a roof over our heads and we know how to take care of ourselves. It's not like it's doomed to fail from the beginning."

"Ya…but I don't want to mess it up with her. She deserves good stuff, not worrying about my safety all the time or whatever."

"Daryl, she already worries about you a great deal. She worries about all of us a great deal. And if you don't step up, you won't ever know what it feels like to really be with the person you love. We can't afford to waste our time. I may be optimistic about the future but I'm not dumb. I know how things can go to hell really fast. And that's exactly why we need to make the most of it right now, while we still can. Besides, it's quite obvious how much Carol wants it just as much as you do."

"She...does?"

"Yeah. It's been a long while. We kinda all know it by now. And if you both don't do anything about it, you'll mostly regret it, I promise."

Daryl nodded and took it all in. So Carol was feeling this way about him, too? This was certainly surprising to learn, especially coming from Rick. He knew she cared a lot about him but never to the extent that he secretly hoped for all this time. All he knew right now was that he needed to talk to her after this run was done. He needed to make things clear with her and maybe…just maybe…talk about settling down once and for all.

"We're here. Let's do this." Rick told Daryl as he stopped the car and opened the door.

They were here to scavenge whatever could be helpful for the rebuilding of the community. They entered an abandoned store full of school supplies and took everything they could. This was gonna be helpful in order to assure an education for all the kids living in Alexandria. Daryl killed a bunch of walkers as Rick was quickly emptying the shelves full of paper, pens, binders, etc. Everything remained pretty much untouched since this was really not the first priority of most survivors in the early days. But now…they could afford to finally think about this. They made sure they had everything they needed before leaving the place and they finally got out of there. This was the first place they wanted to do before going on to another store and wrapping up to go back home. This wasn't gonna take a long while and Daryl was thankful that he could talk to Carol in just a few hours. He was eager to have this conversation with her even if it gave him butterflies in his stomach. They packed the bags in the car but before they could do anything else, a man appeared quickly before them and tried to steal their car.

"What the heck?" Daryl shouted, reaching immediately for the front door.

Daryl threw the man to the floor and started kicking him frenetically.

"Please, stop! Let me explain!" the man pleaded, obviously in pain.

"Daryl, leave him be." Rick protested, wondering what this guy had to say to defend himself.

Daryl stopped, grunted and tried to calm himself down. The man stood up painfully and adjusted the beanie on his head. He was wearing a bandana around his face and a long leather jacket. He seemed quite in shape and doing well in the apocalypse. This was immediately looking suspicious from the start and Rick knew this guy was probably coming from another community.

"I know this looks totally wrong but please hear me out!" the man insisted, throwing his hands in the air.

"What do you want from us, prick?" Daryl called him out.

"Listen, I don't want you any harm. I just wanted the car because something happened to mine and I thought you guys were just stealing stuff from it" the man answered.

"What are you doing out there by yourself, anyway?" Rick asked, perplexed.

"I'm looking out for supplies, just like you guys. I'm the one picking up stuff for my people."

"You have a community?" Rick went on.

"Yes I do, I guess you do too, right?"

"Yeah…but we thought we were the only ones around here."

"What? Haha, oh no! Trust me, you are not alone! If you really think you are, your world is definitely about to change! I'm Paul Rovia but people call me Jesus."

"I'm Rick and this is Daryl. How many people do you have back at your place?"

"Quite a lot. We have a whole system working out to make sure we don't miss on anything. You see, we have to provide half our stuff to another community in order to keep the peace with them. That's a lot of work and we have to give extra effort to make sure we can still survive despite it all. "

"Who the hell are they?" Daryl asked, still not trusting Jesus.

"The Saviors. A bunch of assholes you never wish to meet. They are basically the bullies of the apocalypse. They want stuff or they will kill for it."

"I need to know more about this whole thing. I think this is an important issue we'll have to face one way or another. Can you come back with us at our community and discuss it more?" Rick asked Jesus with concern.

"Heck, do I even have a choice? " Jesus joked quickly.

"No, I'm afraid you do not." Rick offered, his expression remaining extremely serious.

There was no doubt about it, their world was definitely about to change…for the better or worst.

* * *

 **Sorry for the long wait! Life got in the way as usual and it was really hard for me to come back to this story! Here is an update and I'm planning on writing a lot more real soon! Enjoy and leave me a quick review! :)**


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